#mankind

What gave you this idea of an imperfect god?' 'I don't know. It seems quite feasible to me. That is the only god I could imagine believing in, a god whose passion is not a redemption, who saves nothing, fulfills no purpose--a god who simply is. ↗

— Stanisław Lem

#existence #existentialism #god #humanity #imperfection

We do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly enlightened or peaceful or intelligent. Nevertheless, we have soil good enough to cultivate; we can plant anything in it. ↗

— Chögyam Trungpa

#background #confidence #cultivation #development #enlightenment

‎Using his burgeoning intelligence, this most successful of all mammals has exploited the environment to produce food for an ever increasing population. Instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population, perhaps it's time we controlled the population to allow the survival of the environment. ↗

— David Attenborough

#nature #population #science #survival #food

Love is our most unifying and empowering common spiritual denominator. The more we ignore its potential to bring greater balance and deeper meaning to human existence, the more likely we are to continue to define history as one long inglorious record of man’s inhumanity to man. ↗

— Aberjhani

#agape-love #community #existence #history #human-nature

Aku kira dan bagiku itulah kesadaran sejarah. Sadar akan hidup dan kesia-siaan nilai. ↗

— Soe Hok Gie

#life #mankind #life

If you are involved with the intensity of crescendo situations, with the intensity of tragedy, you might begin to see the humor of these situations as well. As in music, when we hear the crescendo building, suddenly if the music stops, we begin to hear the silence as part of the music. ↗

— Chögyam Trungpa

#buddhism #crescendo #enlightenment #humanity #humor

Ах, век мифов и легенд. Шарлемань, рыцарство, горный Пиренейский перешеек, будущее Европы, будущее всего Христианского мира на чаше весов, героический арьергард, рог зовущий на битву, человеческая жизнь, пусть сама по себе ничтожная, пусть всего лишь игрушка в руках случая, но тем не менее вброшена в столкновение более значительных сил. Быть пешкой действительно многое значило во времена, когда на шахматной доске стояли рыцари, епископы и короли, когда пешка могла мечтать о том, чтобы стать королевой, когда черные сражались против белых и над всеми был Бог. Понимаете теперь, что мы потеряли? Теперь есть только пешки и обе стороны играют серыми. ↗

— Julian Barnes

#past #love

Physically there is nothing to distinguish human society from the farm-yard except that children are more troublesome and costly than chickens and calves and that men and women are not so completely enslaved as farm stock. ↗

— George Bernard Shaw

#humankind #men

Living in a bookshop is like living in a warehouse of explosives. Those shelves are ranked with the most furious combustibles in the world--the brains of men. ↗

— Christopher Morley

#bookshop #bookshops #brain #ideas #mankind

Vainglory, however, no matter how much medieval Christianity insisted it was a sin, is a motor of mankind, no more eradicable than sex. ↗

— Barbara W. Tuchman

#mankind #motivation #sex #sin #vainglory